TPS Block 2021 – class enrolments
ICAS ATOs are now required to confirm class enrolments for TPS 2021 block classes.
Last remaining old-syllabus exam opportunities
With the TPS syllabus changing in 2021, there are only two remaining opportunities to sit exams for the existing TPS subjects – December 2020 and April 2021.
New subject equivalents
The four existing TPS subjects will have a new equivalent under the new syllabus, and there will be a fifth TPS subject introduced for 2021. The subjects are as follows:
| Old Syllabus | New Syllabus | Description |
|---|---|---|
| Financial Reporting (FR) | Financial Reporting (FinRep) | Financial Reporting – There are limited technical changes to the course but, in common with all TPS subjects, in exams less credit will be awarded for basic calculations, with the focus shifting more to evaluation. |
| Assurance and Business Systems (ABS) | Assurance and Data (AD) | Assurance and Data – Course now includes new content on the role of data and data management in business decisions, including best practice and evaluation of data held. |
| Taxation (Tax) | Business Taxation (BTax) | Business Tax - This course now deals with the taxation of unincorporated and incorporated businesses. Personal taxation is covered in TC PoT. |
| Advanced Finance (Afin) | Strategic Finance and modelling (SFM) | Strategic Finance and Modelling - This course includes the core elements of financial modelling and key areas have been rewritten to incorporate the use of excel in the production of cash flows, valuations, net present value analysis. |
| Risk and Technology (R&T) | Risk & Technology - This new course explores risk management within a business, and the remainder of the course will cover emerging and existing technologies and practical areas such as data analysis. |
Block pathway – 2021 onwards
We have created a detailed block planner for 2021 to help you with planning for the year ahead:
Please consult the planner and the information below and confirm your student allocation for TPS block 2021 classes by Wednesday 2 December 2020 by completing this form:
(Please refer to the Firms Portal if you need to check Student information e.g. Student ID Numbers.)
It is expected that course allocations will apply to the full year e.g. if a student is enrolled into course 1 FinRep/AD to June they will also be enrolled onto course 1 for SFM/BTax to December. We are still accepting enrolment by location, but we do anticipate that the FinRep/AD classes to June will be completed online due to the ongoing COVID-19 restrictions.
Pathways will vary depending on start date and any previous TPS studies. Information about the most common pathways has been provided below to assist in your planning.
September 2020 intake
A typical September 2020 intake student who has not yet begun their TPS studies will complete classes for FinRep/AD to June 2021, and SFM/BTax to December 2021. Should firms wish, students can instead complete SFM/BTax to December 2021 and then FinRep/AD to June 2022.
R&T will also need to be studied but this is an entirely online course. Our planner shows R&T being completed in summer 2021. Due to the course content, there is an advantage in students studying AD and R&T quite close to each other, but should firms wish, R&T can be delayed e.g. to March 2022.
January 2021 intake
Students beginning their ICAS studies in January 2021 would be expected to complete SFM/BTax to December 2021 and then FinRep/AD to June 2022. R&T will also need to be studied but this is an entirely online course. It would be expected that these students will complete R&T in the latter half of 2022.
Should you wish to do so, your students are permitted to delay and complete TPS in its entirety in 2022.
Transitional students
There will be some students who are only partway through their ICAS studies. Broadly, transitional students will fall into the following two categories:
1. Students who have completed all TPS classes under the existing syllabus but have not yet passed all TPS exams
These students should resit TPS under the existing syllabus in December 2020 and April 2021, with a view to passing their remaining TPS exams. If any old TPS subjects are not passed by April 2021 then these students will need to transition from the old syllabus subject to the new syllabus equivalent as follows:
- Students who haven’t yet passed old FR will need to transition to and pass new FinRep
- Students who haven’t yet passed old ABS will need to transition to and pass new AD
- Students who haven’t yet passed old Tax will need to transition to and pass new BTax
- Students who haven’t yet passed old Afin will need to transition to and pass new SFM.
These students will not need to study for R&T, but only if they obtain passes in the other TPS subjects by the end of 2023.
Please note that for students resitting TPS under the old syllabus in April 2021 there will not be enough time for them to transition to the new syllabus for June 2021 exams. We would therefore expect them to sit new-syllabus exams from August 2021 onwards.
2. Students who have completed some TPS classes under the existing syllabus
Students should be encouraged to sit exams for any TPS old-syllabus subjects that they have attended classes for during both the two remaining exam opportunities – December 2020 and April 2021. If they don’t pass by April 2021 they will need to transition to the new syllabus as detailed above.
Students should also attend new-syllabus classes for any subjects not yet studied.
- For example, if a student has attended existing FR/Tax classes but not existing Afin/ABS classes, they should attend AD classes to June 2021 as part of FinRep/AD, and they should attend SFM classes to December 2021 as part of SFM/BTax.
- If a student has attended existing Afin/ABS classes but not existing FR/Tax classes, they should attend FinRep classes to June 2021 as part of FinRep/AD, and they should attend BTax classes to December 2021 as part of SFM/BTax.
- Should students be studying one TPS subject at a time (e.g. school leavers) they should continue with a pathway consisting of one of FinRep/AD to June and one of SFM/Btax to December.
Further questions
If you have any questions related to this information or the new TPS syllabus then please get in touch with us at firms@icas.com.